China begins Golden Week by pledging to suppress Taiwan’s independence

China began a seven-day National Day holiday on Thursday after President Xi Jinping made Beijing’s message to Taiwan clear in his annual opening speech.

In a speech at the Great Hall of the People on Wednesday, ahead of the 77th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, President Xi said the Chinese government must “resolutely suppress ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces, oppose interference by outside forces” and “promote the cause of national reunification.”

The words were harsher than Xi’s speech last year, in which he said the Chinese government “resolutely opposes” independence movements.

The change comes just days after President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Washington, where he told President Donald Trump that he was unequivocally “opposed” to Taiwan’s independence and called on Washington to limit support for the autonomous island, which Beijing claims as its own. This language would be stronger than the United States’ long-standing position of not supporting Taiwan’s independence.

“We’ve been speculating for over a year that Mr. Xi would do something like this, but this is the first time we’ve seen him do it,” said Alan von Mehren, China economist at Danske Bank.

The Trump administration suspended $14 billion in arms supplies to Taiwan in May and has weakened support for the island over the past year.

National leaders, including Mr. Xi, presented flower baskets to the Monument to the People’s Heroes in Tiananmen Square on Wednesday, Martyrs’ Day, the day before National Day. Photos published by state media showed Xi walking around a monument to fallen national heroes.

Crowds in Beijing gathered Thursday morning to watch as a People’s Liberation Army honor guard escorted the national flag to Tiananmen Square, a military band played the national anthem and thousands of pigeons were released into the sky.

Tourists and city workers are out for the holidays starting Thursday and ending next Wednesday. Workers are off Monday through Wednesday, with Friday’s Mid-Autumn Festival in between, often extending their vacation to 13 days.

China’s Ministry of Transport estimates that there will be approximately 2.13 billion trips during the holidays, or approximately 300 million trips per day.

It is predicted that an average of 2.16 million people will cross the border each day. According to official statistics, bookings for domestic flights over 2,000 kilometers have increased by about 14% year-on-year, while bookings for international flights have increased by 22.5%.

Golden Week is usually a measure of domestic consumption, but due to the long-standing slump in consumer demand, there is a possibility that mass travel will not lead to an increase in spending. Goldman Sachs said travel volume and revenue rose during the holiday period last year, but remained about 3% lower than in 2019, before the pandemic.